What is your story and how did you become the owner and manager of “La Gritta” restaurant?
I was born in Turin but when I was a kid I would come to Sardinia to see my dad and spend time with him at “La Gritta”, which back then was his restaurant. While looking at him, talking to clients and moving between tables, I felt like I was at the theatre; he was so charismatic and charming that it looked like he was acting for the audience. That’s how I slowly fell in love with this place, romanticising it as everything and everyone always looked so elegant and fascinating.
As I grew up I detached myself from that small paradise in Gallura and I became disillusioned with that idyllic place. I studied Art History but I always had memories and thoughts of that singular and characteristic island. My passion was like a seed that was not being taken care of, but still it was there, in my heart.
Meeting my partner was the moment that made me realise that I had to go back to Sardinia and take care of the restaurant that my dad had built and loved passionately for the past 30 years. Since my partner is a chef, we decided to take the reins of “La Gritta” and start a new adventure in Sardinia. It was a radical change in my life as I had to learn a new job but also a novel way of living as the restaurant is situated in a remote area which is bustling with activity only a few months a year.
At the beginning, it was very challenging as I was new to this environment but working with my dad for few years allowed me to spend the time I never had with him and also to grasp all the “secrets of the job” and interpret them with a new perspective.
To overcome my shyness, I had to study and prepare a lot in order to successfully relate with people at the restaurant. You have to work a lot on your personality to approach clients and ultimately build a relationship with them.
How did you give your family restaurant your own spin?
When I inherited “La Gritta” the clientele was made up of loyal and old-fashioned costumers; some of them were not ready for a more modern and innovative experience and constantly asked me where my dad was. Nevertheless, it was important to me that people realised that I was not only Beniamino’s daughter, but that I was keen to bring my own take and style to the traditions of the restaurant. I wanted to show my character and personality through a new design of the restaurant, different wine selection and by introducing a different concept of taste which became my mission and life. On the one hand, not all of our clientele valued this transformation; on the other, we were able to attract many new international customers.
What has evolved and what have you preserved in “La Gritta”’s cuisine?
Our ethos is to create our own style, without necessarily following current trends but doing something that represents us and our philosophy.
Ours is a client-centric approach that attempts to surprise and satisfy our customers with a mix of tradition and innovation. Fish is our main ingredient and we celebrate it in almost every dish we prepare. We also make our own “mirto” from the berries in our garden, which is a traditional Sardinian liqueur made from the myrtle plant. The majority of the food you find on the menu is made artisanally by us, from the fresh pasta to the vegetables that we cultivate in our garden with care and passion. Moreover, we bake our bread and handmade breadsticks daily using traditional recipes from Piedmont.
We decided to keep few traditional dishes that my father developed in his menu: indispensable items such as the spaghetti with clams or the puff pastry filled with boiled squid paired with parmigiano mousse remain essential. Nonetheless, we opted for a different touch and proposed a “lighter” menu compared to what my uncle and father used to offer.
Instead of infusing our cuisine with elaborate metaphors and meanings we seek to imbue it with flavours and textures, enhancing the raw local ingredients. Sobriety of the dish and minimalism of the composition are our main principles. A turbot fillet for us is exactly a turbot fillet, seared at the right temperature and paired with the right seasoning but not wholly transformed into a new form.
We also incorporate several other influences outside those of the original “La Gritta”. My partner is from Puglia and he has worked into the menu dishes such as the smoke-scented hand-made orecchiette with burnt wheat that he learned from his mother. While we don’t offer any sushi or raw fish, you can find a light South East Asian influence in our warm seaweed soup with raw marinated fish.
What are the positive and negative aspects of working only throughout the summer season?
Working only half a year is a double-edged sword as it makes us exclusive but also takes us apart from our customers during the winter season, making it sometimes more difficult to continue building a relationship with them yearlong. This job has allowed me to be a full-time mother during the off-season and dedicate myself to my family while also pursuing a career I love. During the winter, I can constantly keep updated by doing research and spend time planning new additions to both the menu and design of the restaurant itself.
How is Covid-19 having an impact on “La Gritta” and how are you dealing with the situation?
Being an entrepreneur means planning and risking constantly; experience plays a big part in it, however this year will be different as we don’t know how people (especially older clients) will react and if they will feel comfortable eating in public places. Further, not knowing how many employees we might need frustrates me a lot. However, we don’t plan to organise a delivery service as our cuisine is not suitable to be pre-heated but is made to be eaten on the spot and to be fully experienced in person in our restaurant. Whatever the conditions, we will take challenges in stride and adapt as we can.